Overview
- The Congress MLA-elect Jyothi Kumar Chamakkala challenged K. B. Ganesh Kumar to a televised debate on his unverified post-poll allegation of a UDF–BJP deal in Pathanapuram.
- Kumar says a sharp fall in BJP–NDA votes shows tactical cross-voting, citing 11,700 in 2016, 12,398 in 2021, about 23,000 in 2025 local polls, and 7,031 this time.
- He argues the BJP handing the seat to its ally Twenty20, which has little base in the constituency, hid a directed transfer of votes to the Congress-led front.
- Chamakkala rejects the charge and points to Kumar’s own slide, from roughly 75,000 votes in 2016 to about 60,000 in 2026, along with a drop in his vote share from 56% to 44%.
- The confirmed statewide result puts the UDF at 102 seats and the LDF at 35, while Kerala Congress (B) won no seat and the BJP took three.